Did you know Afghanistan is consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima?
Fr. Giovanni Scales, Barnabite missionary and head of Mission Sui Iuris of Afghanistan, consecrated Afghanistan to Our Lady of Fatima on Oct. 13, 2017. He held a ceremony in the chapel of the Italian embassy with Catholic military, civilians, and religious sisters.
The priest said he wanted to “turn to heaven” and devote the country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
“It implies the conviction that the most difficult and intricate situations can be solved from one moment to the next without the slightest human effort. Those who shape history are outside of history,” Fr. Scales said in 2017.
“The memory of the consecration of Russia, a few years before the fall of the Berlin Wall and at the end of the Soviet Union: If [it] led to the end of communism, could the consecration of Afghanistan not bring some peace to this battered country?”
Fr. Giovanni Scales After Taliban Takeover: “Pray, Pray, Pray”
The Barnabite priest begged for prayers on Aug. 16, 2021 after the Taliban took over the country. Many residents, especially Christians, women, and children, will be and are subject to horrific abuse, persecution, and death.
“We are living days of great apprehension as we await what happens,” Fr. Scales told Vatican radio. “Pray, pray, pray for Afghanistan!”
“[Fr. Giovanni Scales] urges everyone to draw close spiritually to the people and pray that Lord may save Afghanistan from more suffering and bring them lasting peace,” Vatican Radio reported.
Let us respond to this call and offer our prayers for Afghanistan!
Prayers to Our Lady of Fatima and the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Exaltation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, in this tragic hour of the world’s history, we entrust and consecrate ourselves to your Immaculate Heart, our only refuge, our hope, our salvation. Have pity on this world, torn by the most terrible conflicts, burning with the fires of hate, victim of its own sins. May your Heart be moved at the sight of so much ruin, pain and sorrow.
We consecrate to your maternal heart our persons, our families, our country–the whole of humanity. Protect and save us!
O Heart of Mary, source of true love, fill our selfish hearts with divine charity and with that true brotherly love without which there can never be peace. Grant that men and nations may understand and fulfill the precept of your Divine Son, LOVE ONE ANOTHER, in order that true peace may be firmly established in the Justice and Truth of Christ.
Source: Pope Pius XII, The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Rosary Novena Prayer to Our Lady of Fatima
Queen of the Holy Rosary, you have deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shepherd children the treasures of grace hidden in the Rosary.
Inspire my heart with a sincere love of this devotion, in order that by meditating on the Mysteries of our Redemption which are recalled in it, I may be enriched with its fruits and obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners and of Russia, and the favor which I ask of you in this Rosary. (Here mention your request.)
I ask it for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, especially for my own.
Amen.
Act of Entrustment to Our Lady of Fatima
Blessed Virgin Mary of Fatima, with renewed gratitude for your motherly presence we join in the voice of all generations that call you blessed. We celebrate in you the great works of God, who never tires of lowering himself in mercy over humanity, afflicted by evil and wounded by sin, to heal and to save it.
Accept with the benevolence of a Mother this act of entrustment that we make in faith today, before this your image, beloved to us. We are certain that each one of us is precious in your eyes and that nothing in our hearts has estranged you. May we allow your sweet gaze to reach us and the perpetual warmth of your smile.
Guard our life with your embrace; bless and strengthen every desire for good; give new life and nourishment to faith; sustain and enlighten hope; awaken and animate charity; guide us all on the path to holiness.
Teach us your own special love for the little and the poor, for the excluded and the suffering, for sinners and the wounded of heart. Gather all people under you protection and give us all to your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus.
Amen.
Source: Pope Francis
Litany to Our Lady of Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima,
pray for our dear country.
Our Lady of Fatima,
sanctify our clergy.
Our Lady of Fatima,
make our Catholics more fervent.
Our Lady of Fatima,
guide and inspire those who govern us.
Our Lady of Fatima,
cure the sick who confide in thee.
Our Lady of Fatima,
console the sorrowful who trust in thee.
Our Lady of Fatima,
help those who invoke your aid.
Our Lady of Fatima,
deliver us from all dangers.
Our Lady of Fatima,
help us to resist temptation.
Our Lady of Fatima,
obtain for us all that we lovingly ask of thee.
Our Lady of Fatima,
help those who are dear to us.
Our Lady of Fatima,
bring back to the right road our erring brothers.
Our Lady of Fatima,
give us back our ancient fervor.
Our Lady of Fatima,
obtain for us pardon of our manifold sins and offenses.
Our Lady of Fatima,
bring all men to the feet of thy Divine Child.
Our Lady of Fatima,
obtain peace for the world.
O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Let Us Pray
O God of infinite goodness and mercy,
fill our hearts with a great confidence in Thy dear Mother,
whom we invoke under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary and our Lady of Fatima,
and grant us by her powerful intercession all the graces, spiritual and temporal, which we need.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Prayer Source: EWTN
Novena Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
O Most Blessed Mother, heart of love, heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son. Receive with understanding and compassion the petitions we place before you today, especially… (special intention).
We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask for your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us, Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever.
Amen.
Source: EWTN
Our Lady of Fatima, please pray for Afghanistan!
[See also: The 5 Prayers Revealed at Fatima that Every Catholic Should Know]
[See also: The Powerful “Prayer for Deliverance from Evil” Written by St. John Paul II]